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CW2 Phillip M. Kemp (Mike)
to remember
Starr, Allen Eugene. (a.k.a. Eugene Freeman), WO1.
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Status: Killed In Action while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 25.0
Date of Birth: 07/09/1944
Unit: 135 AHC, EMU
Flight class: 69-5 Short Summary: Tail rotor failure near Vinh Long. Co-pilot Bernardino Genchi.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 67-17375
Service number: W3164331
Compliment cause: fire or burns Started Tour: 05/10/1969
Length of service: 04
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Baptist - other groups
This record was last updated on 07/29/1994
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Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 67-17375
Incident number: 690722221ACD Accident case number: 690722221 Total loss or fatality The station for this helicopter was Bear Cat in South Vietnam
Number killed in accident = 4 . . Injured = 0 . . Passengers = 1
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Army Aviation Safety Center database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Passengers and/or other participants:
UNK UNK, GM, G
Accident Summary:
AIRCRAFT 67-17375 DEPARTED VINH LONG AS CHALK NO. 8 OF A FLIGHT OF 9 TO FIRE SUPPORT BASE DANGER, THE UNIT WAS SUPPORTING THE 7TH ARVN DIVISION AND WAS ENROUTE TO THE PZ. THE FLIGHT DEPARTED RUNWAY 26 AND WAS TURNING TO THE NORTH TO FORM UP. APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF, CHALK 8 WAS HEARD REPORTING THAT HE WAS GOING DOWN WITH SEVERE VIBRATIONS. THE AIRCRAFT MADE A DESCENDING TURN GENERALLY NORTHWARD. ALTITUDE AT THE TIME OF EMERGENCY WAS APPROXIMATELY 800 FEET WITH AIRSPEED ABOUT 80 KNOTS. THE CREW MADE A POWER APPLICATION AT ABOUT 200 FEET ALTITUDE TO AID IN CLEARING SOME TREES. AT THIS TIME, THE TAIL ROTOR CEASED TO FUNCTION. THE AIRCRAFT LOWERED IT'S NOSE AS IF TO ATTEMPT TO STREAMLINE AND GAIN AIRSPEED. POWER WAS APPLIED THE AIRCRAFT CLIMBED VERTICALLY WHILE SPINNING RIGHT. A LEFT ROLL ENSUED, AND THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK THE GROUND NEARLY INVERTED. FLAMES ERUPTED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH GROUND IMPACT AND IT IS FELT THAT THE IMPACT CAUSED INSTANT CREW FATALITIES. UPON COMPLETE EXTINGUISHING OF THE FLAMES, CREW BODIES WERE EVACUATED TO THE MORGUE AT CAN THO.\\
W/O Starr: some of your Seminole High School (Sanford, Florida) chums have told me you went to school in my hometown of Sanford. I am a Combat Correspondent USMC Sergeant of Marines who was wounded in Quang Tri Province in 1970 who some years ago posted the listing of all Sanford and Seminole County veterans KIA in Vietnam in our local paper The Sanford Herald. Since then the list has grown a bit and now appears on Facebook under two I Grew Up... and We Grew Up In Sanford FB group pages as well as my own page and I have been encouraged to add your name to the list. Welcome Home, brother! J Kirk Richards
Description This campaign was from 23 February to 8 June 1969. From Tet 1969 through the month of June, the enemy again tried to sustain an offensive. His inability to do so can be largely attributed to aggressive allied ground operations. Between 23 February and 8 June 1969, a total of 70 significant named ground operations were terminated resulting in heavy enemy loss of life and materiel. The main operations concluded during this period were:
(1). The 3d Marine Division's Operation KENTUCKY aimed at preventing enemy infiltration through the Demilitarized Zone in central Quang Tri Province. Throughout the early part of January 1969, Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army forces continued to avoid major contacts with Free World Forces. Their continual movement to avoid friendly forces or to search for food and supplies contributed to a decrease in the enemy-initiated ground attacks and attacks-by-fire in Quang Tri Province.
(2). Operation NEVADA EAGLE, initiated on 17 May 1968 in Thua Thien Province, continued in 1969 as the U.S. 101st Airborne Division continued to defeat enemy personnel, and capture rice caches, material, and installations within its large area of operations, where it undertook offensive sweeps along Route 547 and around Song Bo.
(3). Two battalions of the 4th Marine Regiment were engaged in Operation SCOTLAND II. Initiated on 15 April 1968, this multi-battalion search and clear operation was centered in and around Khe Sanh.
(4). The IV Corps Tactical Zone Dry Weather Campaign began on 1 December 1968 in support of the overall mission to prevent Viet Cong units from interfering with pacification efforts. This operation, "Speedy Express," interdicted lines of enemy communication and denied him the use of base areas. In 1969 the 1st Brigade, 9th U.S. Infantry Division continued the operation in Dinh Tuong Province, using its highly successful night ambush tactics while the 2d Brigade continued its mission with the Mobile Riverine Force. Although engagements in Operation SPEEDY EXPRESS were typically small, the 9th Infantry Division fought several sizeable engagements with impressive results.
On 23 February U.S. Navy units and installations at Da Nang, Tan An, Ben Luc, Go Dan Ha, and Tra Cu came under numerous and widespread attacks associated with a new enemy offensive, but since many units in these areas were poised to meet these attacks they caused only minimal damage. April saw the heaviest cumulative enemy activity in the barrier interdiction camapign to date.